Clearly there is overlap between the sections in day-to-day
practice e.g. safety and quality are at the heart of clinical
care; the delivery of care requires communication, team working
and professional behaviour.

Foundation Professional Capabilities

There are 20 foundation professional capabilities describing
the key clinical and professional aspects of medical practice.
Foundation professional capabilities are the outcomes of foundation
training and indicate what the doctor in training is expected
to be able to do.

In order to progress from F1 into F2 and from F2 into GP
or specialty training the foundation doctor has to be signed
off for each foundation professional capability as having met
or exceeded the minimum levels of performance required for sign
off set out on.

F1 doctors must demonstrate that their professional and clinical
practice is at the level required by the General Medical Council (GMC) to obtain full
registration.

F2 doctors are expected to demonstrate that their professional
and clinical practice has developed such that they are able
to work with increasing clinical maturity and are establishing
a leadership role within clinical teams.

Descriptors

Each of the foundation professional capabilities is associated
with 'descriptors'. These are general expectations and indicative
examples of aspects of professional and clinical practice related
to the 'foundation professional capability'.

'Descriptors' have been provided to help trainees and trainers
recognise how experience in the workplace might provide supporting
evidence of achievement. Although each 'descriptor' appears
only once in the syllabus, many of the aspects of practice they
describe are applicable to several foundation professional capabilities
and trainees and trainers are encouraged to be flexible when
deciding where the evidence best fits. In addition as these
are not exhaustive lists alternative examples should be considered
when deciding how to demonstrate that they are meeting or exceeding
the minimum expected level of performance in each of the 20
foundation professional capabilities.

Figure 4: Illustration of the hierarchical arrangement of
the syllabus: sections: foundation professional capabilities:
descriptors.

The syllabus and assessment

This section should be used in conjunction with the section
on assessment.

In order to progress to the next stage of training the foundation
doctor's professional and clinical practice must meet or exceed
the minimum levels of performance required for sign off in each
of the 20 foundation professional capabilities. Performance
will be reviewed on a regular basis throughout the year to ensure
that the trainee is on course to be signed off and if necessary
to put in place any additional support.

At the end of each placement, the clinical supervisor (CS) and educational supervisor (ES) reports will
report on the trainee's performance utilising several sources
of evidence including: feedback from the placement supervision group (PSG) and Team assessment behaviour (TAB) (when performed),
evidence provided in the e-portfolio of achievement of each
foundation professional capability and engagement with the learning
process (completion of supervised learning events (SLEs), reflection on practice and attendance).
Evidence of satisfactory performance of core procedures is required
for F1 doctors only.

The CS and ES reports will indicate for each 'section' of
the syllabus whether the trainee is on track meet or exceed
the minimum levels of performance required for sign off at the
end of the year. The report will include comments to indicate
what the doctor in training is doing well and also to identify
targets for future development. If there are any concerns comments
will be provided detailing specific issues with performance
mapped to the relevant foundation professional capability.

Foundation doctors must use their e-portfolio to record a
range of evidence in support of achievement of each
foundation professional capability to demonstrate that
they are performing at or above the minimum level expected of
a F1 or F2 doctor. Evidence can take many forms including achievements
framed in terms of some of the 'descriptors', reflection on
clinical or professional experiences, evidence of formal training
(certificates), participation in evidence-based medicine (guidelines,
posters, presentations) or quality improvement work.

Evidence from trainers will usually be in the form of feedback
from members of the placement supervision group or following
SLEs. These involve the trainer viewing or discussing an aspect
of the trainee's practice, providing feedback
and documenting it directly in the trainee's e-portfolio. The
trainee may then choose to reflect on the encounter and consider
how their practice might evolve as a result.

The trainee should choose evidence that shows how their performance
in each of the foundation professional capabilities meets or
exceeds the minimum levels of performance expected from an F1
or an F2 doctor.

Table 2: The relationship between the syllabus and assessment

4 Sections

The clinical and educational supervisor's
end of placement reports review performance
at section level and indicate whether the
trainee's performance is on course to meet
or exceed the minimum level required for
sign off of the 20 foundation professional
capabilities at the end of the year of training.

The reports are based on several sources
of evidence including:

Observation of performance in the
workplace by the clinical supervisor (CS) and the Placement
Supervision Group (PSG).

Evidence provided in the trainee's
e-portfolio.

Team Assessment of Behaviour.

Satistfactory performance of core
procedures (F1).

Participating in the educational
process.

20 Foundation Professional Capabilities (Foundation
Outcomes)

Progression into the next year of training
is dependent on sign off that the foundation
doctor's professional and clinical practice
in each of the 20 foundation professional
capabilities meets or exceeds the minimum
levels of performance

Trainees must should provide a spread
of evidence in their e-portfolio demonstrating
how they meet the required level of performance
for each foundation professional capability.

Trainees must demonstrate increasingly
sophisticated performance as they progress
through every stage of foundation training.

Descriptors

Each foundation professional capability
is associated with one or more 'descriptors'.
These are general expectations and indicative
examples of facets of professional and clinical
practice related to the ‘foundation professional
capability’.

The descriptors are not comprehensive
and have been provided to assist trainees
and trainers recognise how experience in
the workplace might provide supporting evidence
of achievement of performance meetes the
expected levelo of performance for each
'foundation professional capability'.

Although 'descriptors' are linked to
a single 'foundation professional capability',
many of the 'descriptors' are applicable
to other 'foundation professional capabilities'.

Trainees and trainers are encouraged
to consider linking descriptors (or alternative
evidence) to the most appropriate 'foundation
professional capability'.

Completing and reflecting on feedback
from supervised learning events is one way
of doing this.